Nigeria agrees to hand war crimes fugitive to Liberia

Nigeria said today it will send back to Liberia exiled ex-president and one-time warlord Charles Taylor, wanted for trial on war crimes by a UN-backed court.

Newly inaugurated Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf recently asked that Taylor’s asylum in Nigeria be ended and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would discuss the request with regional leaders.

Today, Obasanjo agreed to hand Taylor to Liberia.

Obasanjo “has today March 25 informed President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf that the government of Liberia is free to take former President Charles Taylor into its custody,” the presidency said in a statement.

There was no word on when Taylor could be sent to Liberia. Liberian officials weren’t immediately available for comment.

Taylor could be sent directly to Sierra Leone, where a UN-backed court has indicted him on 17 counts of alleged war crimes for his role in supporting that country’s brutal rebel movement during a 1991-2001 civil war.

Obasanjo granted Taylor, a one-time warlord and rebel leader himself, asylum in Nigeria to help end the 1989-2003 civil war that Taylor started.

Obasanjo was lauded at the time for brokering peace and helping arrange Liberia’s transitional administration but has been under pressure recently to hand Taylor to the war crimes tribunal.

Obasanjo has said he would accede to any request from a democratically elected Liberian leader.

Sirleaf’s January inauguration after a November electoral victory ended Liberia’s post-war administration. At the time she said that Taylor’s extradition was not a priority for her government.

Her request for extradition came while she was on an official visit to the US, prompting speculation that she had changed her mind under pressure from US officials who could offer substantial aid.

The Nigerian announcement comes as Obasanjo prepares to visit Washington and meet with President George Bush on Wednesday.